The question was out before he could stop it. He regretted it immediately, because it was a stupid thing to ask and he was not the kind of man who asked stupid questions.
A mere knock on her head would not have been enough to have her acting like this, and he couldn't see any sign of bruising or damage on her head.
Aya's internal panic kicked into overdrive and her mind scrambled as she immediately wondered if he could notice she wasn't acting as usual.
She briefly considered playing dumb and acting like the stupid Luna everyone expected, but the thought made her physically ill.
She needed an excuse. Fast.
"I—" She let out a nervous laugh that sounded too high-pitched even to her own ears. She rubbed the back of her head. "Funny you'd say that. I had a very terrible fever last night. Honestly thought I was even going to die."
She then touched her temple and shrugged with a casualness that felt slightly off to Dorian, but she didn't notice. "But I woke up this morning and my head is just... hazy for some reason." Aya looked up and blinked innocently at him. "Why? Is something wrong?"
He watched her for a long moment. Something was crawling at the back of his mind, an instinct that wouldn't settle. He didn't know what it was, but it made him uneasy.
Then it vanished, replaced by cold dismissal.
He had severely underestimated her acting capabilities.
"Get out," he said flatly, suddenly realising he would only waste his time trying to understand a puzzle that wasn't worth solving. "Just get out."
Her composure cracked into genuine annoyance. One he was used to, but still subdued.
Aya frowned, flabbergasted. "I just said I wanted to use this place. I won't leave until you give me your schedule." She spread out her arms, looking around. "And this is my place. You have no right to tell me to get out of my own—"
She sucked in her breath and stiffened as Dorian stepped closer, a menacing heat consuming his eyes as they glowed dangerously. And it made her heart stutter for an entirely different reason.
He leaned down, nearly at eye level, but still looked down on her.
"I am your husband. You are my wife. I have the right to come and leave as I please, even with your position, you cannot deny me that," he let out in a low growl. "I will not be giving you my schedule. I will never do such a thing." He took another step closer and Aya suppressed the enticing shudder that crawled across her skin. "Not so you can turn up and pester me whenever I am here."
Dorian knew this tactic. It was a lie. She was just fishing for information, because what did she even mean that he should tell her when to come. It made no sense when she could literally sense him whenever he was near or within her estate.
Him just voicing his movements would only give her twisted mind some sort of confirmation to come to him whenever she pleased.
He wondered how she had finally learned to become so sly?
"I am not going to do that," Aya said firmly, her voice nearly a breathless whisper.
He straightened, narrowing his eyes at her. "Oh, please. You? Read a book? Don't be ridiculous. I am not that stupid to fall for your silly tricks."
She frowned and flinched as if she had been insulted. "That's not what I—" She stopped mid-sentence, pressing her mouth tightly closed.
She had almost said something about how she wasn't the same person, and that he shouldn't attach horrible ideas to her when she hadn't done anything wrong.
But Aya had done those things. The body she was now wearing. The woman whose face she now had…
She had probably done exactly what he was accusing her of. And worse from the scenario the system had painted.
The fight drained out of her, replaced by a simmering anger at the situation she had been dropped into.
Aya sighed and relaxed her shoulders. "Fine. I'll come during the late evenings," she said with a clipped tone. "Do what you want with that information."
She waved her hand dismissively and turned to walk towards the door without looking back. Her fingers paused on the handle.
"I'm sorry again," she said quietly without looking at him. "For intruding. I will come in the evening."
The door opened. Closed. Click.
Dorian stood alone in the library, staring at the door.
The book that had fallen still lay on the floor by his feet. The faint scent of her lingered in the space where she had stood, and underneath it, the unmistakable warmth of arousal she had completely failed to hide.
His frown deepened and he clenched his fists at his sides, his jaw tight.
She had apologised.
Three times.
Aya Lunaire had never once apologised for a single thing in her entire life.
He tried to make sense of what had just happened. The way she had looked at him, that disgusting desire was still there, and she was even more shameless than before.
It was a small sign, it might not have been anything, but she was acting outside the norm, and that wasn't a good sign.
It was as if she was actually getting smarter.
He stared at the closed door for a very long time.
[ - ]
Aya made it to another turning exactly seven steps down the hallway before her legs nearly gave out.
She quickly pressed her back against the nearest wall, heart hammering and her face burning. A hot flush rushed through her body and she pressed her palms against the cool stone, trying to ground herself.
The way his eyes had glowed… that menacing, dangerous gold shade had caught her completely off guard.
He had looked so hot!
"No. Absolutely not," she muttered, shaking her head violently as if she could physically dislodge the thought.
The man hated her, she should banish any thought of doing anything with him anytime soon.
Ding!
Aya's eyes snapped to the system.
"Not now," she hissed under her breath.
[Host's perversions remain... problematic]
[(¬‿¬)]
Aya rolled her eyes.
[Update: Alpha Dorian's Hatred Level Updated]
[1,000% → 999%]
[Faint improvement detected]
Aya blinked surprised. "Wait. It went down?"
[Alpha Dorian is confused]
[Confusion is better than pure hatred]
[Progress! Kind of!]
[ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ]
Aya stared at the screen. One percent. Practically barely nothing, but it was something, and she would take it.
The fever excuse was flimsy, but it was something. A reason for why she might be acting strange. Why she might be different.
Aya pushed off the wall. She wasn't going to tiptoe around everyone. At the very least, she will have to do things differently if she wanted to live.
[At this rate, Host will reach 0% hatred in approximately...]
[…calculating…]
[2.7 years]
[Good luck!]
Aya jumped, glaring at the screen. "What?!"